


Apple Trees

by BrokenBones (Hikarinimichitasora)



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Star Trek: The New Generation, Two generations of McKirk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-05
Updated: 2014-07-05
Packaged: 2018-02-07 13:55:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1901517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hikarinimichitasora/pseuds/BrokenBones
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From the minute he opens his mouth, Joanna McCoy can’t stand David Kirk.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Star Trek: 'NEW' Generation prompt: Imagine grown up Joanna McCoy and David Kirk entering Star Fleet. Their dads are the golden boys of the Federation and best friends, but Jo and David can't stand each other. In the end though, the apples don't fall far from the tree and True Love can look an awful lot like loathing.... much to their dad's amusement.

From the minute he opens his mouth, Joanna McCoy can’t stand David Kirk. His arrogant, self-absorbed and veers between bragging about a famous father and telling people not to judge him by the Kirk family name. He’s an asshole and Joanna tells him as such on as many opportunities as possible.

It’s awkward when they end up in a lot of the same classes at Starfleet. Joanna tries to hide her abject loathing for a while, but it soon overflows when they get into a seething row that Joanna can’t even remember the cause of, and they’re pulled up in front of the Disciplinary Committee for fighting.

It’s Joanna’s first mark on her record, but not David’s and they’ve only been there for a week. She sneers at him as he plays contrite and folds her arms. She refuses to apologise, or admit wrongdoing. In the end David gets away scot-free, while she ends up with a much more severe punishment.

It makes her hate him even more.

What’s worse is that she’s invited to a party at the Kirks’ shortly after. Her father quietly intones that it would be a great  _networking_  opportunity, which is pretty much him demanding her presence and she just  _knows_  that on his home turf, Kirk is going to be even more insufferable.

It’s even worse than she ever imagined. Kirk is holding court and all the adults seem to find it a mixture of amusing and adorable. Commodore Kirk tries to engage her in conversation, but his attention is soon directed by her father and she’s left, stood to David’s left as he spouts nonsense about his plans for the future.

"What about you, Joanna? What are your goals?" Captain Sulu asks. Joanna looks at David.

"To not end up stationed on the same Federation vessel as him," she says, jerking her thumb in David’s direction. That causes laughter and Sulu elbows the Russian next to him as though to share a private joke.

The rest of the night passes in absolute misery and as soon as possible, she creeps out onto the balcony to get away. She hates it all. After a few minutes, Commodore Kirk follows her out.

"Cadet McCoy," he says, and he has a smile stretched across his face that seems part nostalgia, part fatherly affection. She tries not to hold it against him that he has spawned the Antichrist.

"Commodore," she greets. They stand there for a long moment and she wonders if the Commodore is going to say something.

"You’re rather similar to your father. He’s always trying to hide at parties too," the Commodore says. She shrugs.

"I think I’m more like my mother," she replies. Commodore Kirk leans on the balcony rail.

"David talks about you all the time. I haven’t seen you since you were about twelve, so it’s interesting to pair up all the data and see what you became," the Commodore tries again. Joanna scowls at the city of San Francisco below them.

"I’m sure David told you  _all_  about me,” she replies bitterly. Kirk looks at her for a long moment.

"David likes you, you know. He’s a stupid, hot-headed manchild, but I think he quite likes it that you don’t take his shit," Kirk says and then he leans back. Joanna doesn’t let emotions play over her face, but she does feel shock deep down. It’s embarrassing how little Kirk appears to know his own son.

"I’m sure you’re right, sir," she says. Kirk lets out a chuckle.

"Food for thought I suppose. Enjoy the view Cadet."

* * *

 

Over the next few weeks, the Commodore’s words niggle in the back of Joanna’s mind. She begins to notice that David doesn’t act half as obnoxiously around others, like he does it just to get a rise out of her. And when he does, he looks delighted.

She decides David Kirk has decided that  _any_  attention is  _good_  attention and tries not to read too much into it.

Then it happens. David is taking a test, his first shot at the Kobayashi Maru. Joanna can tell he feels the pressure, can tell that he is desperately trying to work out how his father beat it years ago, but Joanna doesn’t have much faith he can pass it.

He’s pouring over books and working out formulas for success of each action and recruiting the best the Academy has to offer to be his bridge crew.

Joanna isn’t expecting to be approached herself.

"McCoy, I know you don’t like me, but I’d really appreciate it if you’d be on my crew. I need a good communications officer and I know that you’re the best in Uhura’s class," he says, cornering her in the quad between classes. Joanna stares at him. "Please?"

She ends up doing it, sitting on the bridge and intercepting fake distress signals. She reports her findings in a dull, bored tone. She knows the outcome of this exam already.

David Kirk surprises her though. She’s not sure how he’s done it, and she’s sure he’s in for a world of trouble for it, but somehow he manages to take out all the enemy vessels  _and_  rescue all the passengers. She sits back in her chair, throwing her communications device against the top and staring at Kirk who is sitting there, grinning from ear to ear and looking smug.

That night David insists on taking her out for a drink. She thinks it will be the whole bridge crew, but when she arrives, it’s a small intimate table and a bottle of wine. She almost walks straight back out.

"McCoy!" David sees her before she can about face and she grudgingly slips into the booth beside him. She gulps down the wine, desperate to finish the bottle and leave. David doesn’t seem to mind too much.

He talks about his most recent disciplinary hearing, about how he’s sure his father is going to string him up by the heels for finding a new way to cheat, about how he’s going to try to beat his father’s record for becoming youngest Starfleet captain.

Joanna hates to even think it, but she can’t help but feel a little impressed.

"This is a date, isn’t it?" she asks finally, cutting David off mid-sentence. David’s mouth slams shut and he seems to think about his options.

"Well… kind of. I knew you wouldn’t agree to a date so it’s just… friendly drinks between two people who can sort of tolerate each other?" he says. Joanna rolls her eyes.

"And all that arrogant behaviour, that was to get my attention?" she presses. David shrugs.

"Some of it was just my personality, some of it was put on a bit," he concedes. Joanna considers her options.

"When you’ve decided you’re not going to be an arrogant dick, I’ll agree to a real date," she says. David perks up in his chair and Joanna throws back the last of her wine. She stands up and he looks at her.

"I’m going to get that date, McCoy," he promises. Joanna raises an eyebrow, an expression that is a mirror of her father’s own raised eyebrow.

"Concentrate on not getting kicked from Starfleet first, huh?" she replies. David grins at her though and she can’t help but smile back a little.

* * *

 

"So how’d it go?" Jim asks when David walks into his apartment later that night. Bones has fallen asleep on the couch while waiting for the news, his head slumped into Jim’s lap and he doesn’t have the heart to wake him.

David makes a shaky gesture with his hand. “Hit and miss. She’s agreed to go on a real date with me at some point,” he says. Jim gives him a thumbs up and waits for him to disappear into his room before he leans over Bones to see if the other is still asleep.

Bones’ eyes are still closed and Jim cards through his hair absently.

Sometimes the apples really didn’t fall far from the tree.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> David sees Joanna in her dress uniform for the first time at the end of their second semester. He can’t imagine anyone looking hotter in them.

David sees Joanna in her dress uniform for the first time at the end of their second semester. He can’t imagine anyone looking hotter in them. He can imagine Joanna looking hotter without them though, which is a bit of a problem when Joanna’s father is stood at the front behind the Vice-Admiral as he gives his speech.

Joanna hasn’t gone on a second date with him yet, though she’s been less antagonistic lately, so he guesses she feels his prolonged academic suspension has probably been good for him. He’s tried to convert the lack of antagonism into affection, but apart from a few times where they’ve hung out with other people as a buffer, Joanna has remained almost freakishly absent.

She stands there now, stern-faced and attentive, as the Vice-Admiral drones on and on. She doesn’t look at him, and he’s not going to try to get her attention. His dad is on that stage too, after all, and he knows he’s being watched like a hawk.

"It is with great pleasure that I announce the promotion of Commodore James Tiberius Kirk to that of Rear Admiral," the Vice-Admiral announces and David is suddenly looking at his father with wide eyes.

He hadn’t known. His father had said nothing about this. James Kirk accepts the applause, delivers a speech that some might call stirring but David thinks is a rather lame rehash of a speech that his father has given every night at the dinner table, and pats Dr McCoy on the shoulder as he leaves the stage.

They file out and David ping pongs between anger that his father kept that from him, and amusement that his father is now an Admiral that was ‘rear’ in the title. He wonders how long it’ll be before he gets to make a joke about that.

"I’m sorry, sweetheart, but I’m out celebrating with Jim tonight. Some other time."

David is drawn from his own world when he hears Dr McCoy’s southern drawl. Joanna is still wearing the stony mask that she seems to have perfected over the last few months, almost Vulcan-like in it’s severity, but her eyes give her away.

"But Pa, I really just wanted to spend some time with you. Just a little-" she protests. McCoy puts his hand on her shoulder.

"Jo, I don’t have time to explain it to you now, but this is  _really_  important to me and Jim, alright? We have to celebrate this together, it’s just how it is,” McCoy says and he looks about. His eyes light up when he spots David and he beckons him over. David is treated to Joanna’s mask cracking for a moment as she rolls her eyes.

"Why don’t you two do your own thing tonight? You can commiserate having Starfleet families together," he suggests. David grins from ear to ear.

"Yes sir," he says. Joanna huffs and folds her arms, but she doesn’t say anything else to either of them.

* * *

 

They spend the night at David’s father’s apartment. David’s pretty sure his dad isn’t going to be back, it’s bigger than the dormitories and it has the most amazingly big holovid system. He gets Joanna to pick a film and orders pizza.

"I’d have thought you’d want to go to all the bars or something," Joanna says. David shrugs.

"My dad’s into that kind of thing, but I’m more of a pizza and video games guy," he replies. "Dad likes lack of control, it makes him feel alive or something… But me? I prefer to be on top of things."

"A control freak?" she questions. David thinks for a moment.

"No. Just… I don’t need what my dad does. He needs to be out there, exploring, thrill seeking. I’d be happy to sit as Chief Engineer forever, I think. I just enjoy fixing shit," he replies as he licks tomato sauce from his fingers. Joanna is looking at him like he’s grown a second head.

"Then why did you bother to take the Command Track exams?" she asks. David shrugs.

"Because I could? I mean, my first love is engineering, but if that doesn’t work out? I can’t do Medical or Communications to save my life, and I’ve heard too many stories about what happens to Security Officers to know that’s not for me," he explains. Joanna picks a jalapeno off her pizza slice and pops it into her mouth.

"You’re nuts," she says and David just shrugs.

"What about you? You’re going into Communications right?" he asks. Joanna looks down at her pizza slice.

"I… I thought I wanted to but… I’m thinking of changing over to Command Track courses next year. I just… I don’t have the passion for it," she says. David smiles.

"Great! When you’re Captain, you can have me as your Chief Engineer! It’ll be great!" he says. Joanna frowns at him.

"Why would you take  _you_  on my ship? If I’m going to take anyone it’s going to be Sulu’s kid… What’s his name…?” Her eyes go up while she thinks.

"You’re going to take a kid you don’t even know over me? I’m hurt," David says, putting a hand over his chest and pretending to cry. Joanna throws a pepper at him.

They spend the rest of the evening watching the movie, gossiping about other cadets and sampling the wide selection of different liquors that James Kirk has amassed over the years. They’re more than a little tipsy when the door bangs open.

"Shit Bones don’t-"

"Shut up, Jim."

"Ah… Watch it! Do you know how much those buttons cost to replace?"

"On a Rear-Admiral’s salary, I’m sure you can afford to have them replaced. Now quit your bitching and get out of that goddamn jacket…"

David knows his father hasn’t realised that they’re here. Joanna is sat, eyes wide and her mouth hanging open. He doesn’t know whether to make a sudden loud noise to alert the two of them or hide.

The choice is taken from him when his father backs up through the door, removing his jacket as he does so and draws up short, staring at them.

"Bones? The kids are here," his father says. Joanna is on her feet, face bright pink as she tries to gather all her things, a purse, a hoodie she’d discarded, a hair band. David just sits there, not sure what he’s supposed to do.

It looks like neither Kirk is getting laid tonight.

"Jim you better be joking because I haven’t told… Joanna yet," McCoy enters the lounge, sees that Jim is very much  _not_  joking, and turns as red as his daughter. David nods to him and gets a flustered nod back.

"I’m should… I’m gonna… I should go," Joanna babbles and David gets to his feet.

"I’m coming with you. Please don’t leave me here," he says. Joanna doesn’t wait for him, instead pushing past their father’s and fleeing out the front door. David stops to grab his shoes before following her on socked feet onto the apartment landing.

The door shuts behind them and for a moment they stand there, staring at each other.

"Our dads are fucking," Joanna says after a moment, and David pulls a face.

"David, our dads are  _sleeping with each other_ ,” she points out again, as though the scene inside and her just saying it wouldn’t spell it out to him. He doesn’t know what to say to this so he bends over to put his shoes on.

"That makes us like… step-siblings or something," she continues. David  _does_  look up at that. He’s not letting  _that_  thought get any further.

"I’d have a lot of step-siblings if that was true of every person my dad had boned over the years," he says. Joanna’s eyes are still wide and shocked.

"Look, Joanna, I like you. Not as a McCoy but as  _you_. I don’t care if our fathers shack up and get married or whatever. I still want to date  _you,”_ he says. Joanna shakes her head.

"I… It’s too weird. I can’t," she says. David stands up straight, dusting his hands off on his trousers and trying to get her to look him in the eye. She won’t though, her eyes darting everywhere.

"Well, what if no one knows we’re dating?" he suggests. Joanna nibbles her lower lip. "We’d have to keep it a secret to serve together anyway, right? And there’s no legal or biological reason we can’t. If you’re worried what other people will think, then we just don’t tell anyone."

Joanna considers it. He can see she’s thinking. He can see she’s tempted. He wants her to consider it. He does like her. She has everything he wants in a girlfriend. She’s beautiful, she’s passionate, she’s driven, and she doesn’t take any of his shit.

"No one can know," she says after a moment. David isn’t prepared for the sense of disappointment and the tide of joy that brings in him, bittersweet and settling in his chest, but he smiles as he leans forward to tuck her hair behind her ears.

"Then how about we go hang out as friends at your place then?" he asks. Joanna hesitantly nods.

David decides not to tell her that he’s known for four years that their father’s were sleeping with each other. That is extraneous information and what she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When she dreams that night, she dreams of blue eyes like the sky and warm blond hair the color of wheat. She dreams of chapped lips against her own, an easy laugh, rough hands that slide into her own when no one is looking. She dreams of the slow, burning warmth that had started to burn within her chest instead of annoyance.

It lasts a few months, before everything comes tumbling down. The tabloids run the story with glee. Two sweethearts of the Federation joined at last! McCoy and Kirk, facing down the rest of the universe together!

There are romantic headlines everywhere and Joanna finds people asking her more and more about her father's love life with each passing day. A few weeks later, her father pulls her to one side.

"Jim and I... we're gonna get married... Seems there's no point in not now that everyone knows," he says. Joanna nods and wishes him congratulations. He smiles at her and he looks genuinely happy.

That night she opens her PADD and types out a quick message. She doesn't cry. She doesn't feel anything. It's a decision, and one that she has made. She compartmentalizes.

When she dreams that night, she dreams of blue eyes like the sky and warm blond hair the color of wheat. She dreams of chapped lips against her own, an easy laugh, rough hands that slide into her own when no one is looking. She dreams of the slow, burning warmth that had started to burn within her chest instead of annoyance.

When she wakes up, she realizes she has cried in her sleep, but brushes away the tears. She will not acknowledge them.

* * *

 

David McCoy hasn't eat in three days. Not since Jim has told him that he's marrying Bones. David also appears to find it difficult to look at him. He's not sure it's that his son has an issue with him marrying a McCoy, he thinks it's more due to the fact that Joanna has dumped him.

Not that David had ever told him that they were dating. Still, it was obvious. And Jim had hacked his PADD just to verify it. Well, whatever, the two of them could do what they wanted. But now he was starting to wonder if David had been a little too serious about Bones' little girl.

He tells Bones about it after David disappears straight into his room instead of eating dinner. Bones listens and though he doesn't look too approving of the situation (the phrase 'Joanna is too young to date' popping up more than once), he agrees that he'll talk to her and see what the issue is and if it can be fixed.

Jim rewards him with things that he's sure that David and Joanna haven't discovered yet.

* * *

 

Joanna is mortified when her father sits her down and starts talking about relationships. There are some things that she's never wanted from him and advice like this is part of it. She tries to change the subject, but her father is nothing if not stubborn, and eventually she breaks down.

"It's weird. He's going to be my step-brother. I can't date him," she says. Bones concedes that it  _is_  a little weird, but there are ways around it.

"It's not like I want you to be dating a Kirk. I know how much trouble they can be," her father says, a fond smile on his face. "But I do know one thing - that there's no reason why you and David should hold back if you genuinely like each other. Jim and I did that for years, and all it did was leave us with regrets."

Joanna thinks about what he's said almost constantly, but she doesn't make her decision until she sees David again a week later. It's their father's engagement party, all the bigwigs are there, and Joanna can see David in the corner.

He is laughing and joking, his movements wide and expressive. She feels her heart beat hard in her chest as she watches him and remembers what it is like to be included in that circle.

There's a moment when he sees her. His expression clears for a moment, smile wiping away and something else taking its place. Then someone catches his attention and he turns to clap them on the shoulder.

Joanna finds herself drifting through the party, making polite but dull conversation. She wanders until she ends up in David's room. She doesn't remember making a conscious decision to go in there.

The bed is unmade. She wonders if she ever expected it to be. There's a PADD discarded by the night stand. She picks it up. It lights up with a picture of her, stolen from her social profile she's sure. He's set it as his background. She puts it back down and stares at her hands.

She doesn't hear him come in, but he's suddenly there, at the door. He's got two glasses of champagne in his hands and he passes one to her as he sits down.

"To our dads," he says and tilts his flute towards her own. She hesitantly toasts and takes a sip. They sit in silence for a moment.

"I should go," she says, standing up. David catches her hand though, holding it tightly in his own. It feels slightly wet and cool from condensation, but the calluses are familiar and she's taken back to the first time he dragged her into the Engineering Division, his face lighting up as he described the way a constitution class starship fit together.

"If I don't care, and our father's don't care, then what does it matter what anyone else thinks?" he asks. Joanna thinks it sounds so convincing.

"I don't know... I just don't know," she says and David stands up too. He takes her shoulders and leans forward. She can move away, she can say no, she knows that he'll stop, he'll leave her alone. But she doesn't, she moves into the kiss that leaves her breathless, swept up in a tide of Kirk technique and the way his lips feel against hers.

He holds her for a while after they break the kiss, not speaking, just holding her against him as though he'll never feel her pressed against his chest again. She rests her forehead on his shoulder.

"Be with me," David says, and though it sounds like an order, she can tell he's desperate and begging. Joanna takes a shuddering, deep breath.

"Okay," she says finally. David's arms tighten around her.

"Okay."


End file.
